Stand-up flexible screen



Dec. 4, 1951 10 5 ZZZ 55 1 32-36 I INVENTOR. Sm/ 4? Zfla'zze Patented Dec. 1, 1951 STAND-UP FLEXIBLE SCREEN Stanley E. Waite, Oshkosh, ;Wis.,. assignor to Waite Carpet. Company, Oshkosh, Wis a corporati'on ofWisconsin Application January 6, 1950, Seriat No; 137,085

This invention relates to a flexible screen adapted to stand upright upon. a floor or other horizontal surface. The features of improvement are. concerned with the materials entering into the construction of the screen, the relationship of these materials in. the completed structure, and the special properties and characteristics which are imparted. to the screen. as the result of the novel features of construction hereinafter set forth in detail.

,The. screen is one which may conveniently be formed of any suitable material.-fiber for example. It combines in the weave of such ma.- terial a plurality of dowel. pin-sarranged atfixed distances apart, each extending for the full height of the screen, so asto contribute a desired vertical reinforcement thereto- Sucha screen may also exhibit an attractive pattern,produced as by the selection of fibers having desired colors which appear at recurrent intervals in differentways. With such. a pattern it is possible also to incorporate the dowel pinswhich attractively affect the texture effect thereof.

The present screen is also advantageous in that it is reversible so as to exhibit identical or com-- plementary patterns on its opposite faces. The reinforcing dowel pins extend centrally through the woven fabric so as to exhibita-like appearance on opposite sides of the screen. If the pattern. be in the form of blocks, the dowel pins may be so placed as to separate these blocks from each other, the fabric weave being opened up as. necessary to accommodate the dowel pins, there by addin a distinctive touch to the pattern'as a whole.

The screen is one which may be made up in a variety of patterns with the use of diiferent materials, but by way of. example- I have shown in the drawing a simple structure, Fig. 1 illustrating in perspective the screen in its entirety.

with one of its ends curved around suiliciently to exhibita portion of the pattern upon the opposite side thereof; Fig. 2 being an enlarged 3 Claims. (01. 160-352) I render the screen. self-sustaining in an. upright position with its. lower edge resting upon a hori zontal supporting surface. The strands of the woven structure form smooth, uninterrupted upper and lower edges throughout the entire horizontal' dimensionof the screen and such a screen is adapted to he stood. vertically on the floor, and asv the dowel pins. are. engaged at opposite sidesof the screen by vertically spaced groups of contiguous warp. strands the screen is sufficiently flexible horizontally to be bent into any desired curvature thereby exhibiting. one or both of its sides, as. indicated clearly in Fig. l.

The. pattern of the. screen. selected for illustration is. one which makes use. of blocks a, b,

c, and cl, each of which may exhibit a dilferent appearance. The. four components of the block pattern are disposed at. regularly recurring places throughout. the entire screen structure, and the dowel. pins D are desirably interposed along the meeting line of the components a-b and ccl (see Fig. 2). V

In the fabric weave there are filler strands Ill-50,. all designated by even numerals as shown in Fig- 2-;. along with warp strands H453, all designated by odd numerals. The pattern illustrated for the. fabric is made up of blocks having four different color effects, disposed regularly and recurrent-Ly throughout the entire fabric structure... The weave is somewhat loose so as to maintain flexibility and avoid undue binding of the filler strands Ill-5d. The filler strands, in particular, should be. relatively large in order to provide adequate body for the screen to make it self-supporting with the aid of the incorporated dowel pins.

In accordance with a known practice in the weaving art, strands. of two colors, occurring in a predetermined manner in the filler and in the warp, may be employed to exhibit in. the com.-

pletedfabric a pattern of recurring. blocks which present at; least four difie-renta pearances. For example, if one of, the strands be of natural color exhibiting. a general beige appearance, then only a. single dye need be used for coloring of the. other strands. These strands, one natural and the other colored, may be combined to produce blocks whose appearances are (a) all natural, (b) all colored, (c) predominately natural, and (d) predominately colored. The dowel pins themselves need not be colored, but when left in the natural state will blend perfectly with the pattern as a whole.

The diameter of the dowel pins is, of course, considerably greater than is the thickness of 3 the completed fabric. Because of this the warp strands are required to bow out symmetrically and oppositely at the points of passage over the dowel pins in the woven fabric. The engagement of the warp strands with the dowel pins should be relatively loose to maintain substantially full freedom of flexible movement. Since some of the warp strands will pass to one side of the dowel pins and others to the opposite side thereof, a relatively large portion of the surface area of each dowel pin remains exposed to view.

I claim:

1. In a stand-up horizontally flexible screen, a fabric structure made up of interwoven fiber flller strands and fiber warp strands, upright moldings attached to the ends of the screen for vertical support thereof, the filler strands of the fabric structure being also vertically disposed and the warp strands being horizontally disposed, and a plurality of evenly spaced dowel pins whose diameters are greater than the thickness of the fiber strands and also of that of the completed fabric structure and produce a vertical bulging of the screen at opposite sides thereof, the dowel pins being interwoven into the fabric structure to constitute certain of the filler strands therefor and engaged at opposite sides of the screen by vertically spaced groups of contiguous warp strands and protruding and exposed at opposite sides of the screen at the spaces between the groups of warp strands, the warp strands extending across the opposite sides of the dowel pins at the bulging portions of the screen bowing outwardly and symmetrically at such points of crossing and engaging the dowel pins relatively loosely to preserve to the fabric structure substantially full freedom of flexing movement either way into and out of a single plane, the upright moldings at the ends of the screen and the dowel pins rendering the fabric structure self-sustaining in an upright position with its lower edge resting upon a horizontal supporting surface and the strands of the fabric structure forming smooth, uninterrupted upper and lower edges throughout the entire horizontal dimension of the screen.

2. In a stand-up flexible screen, a fabric structure made up of interwoven fiber filler strands and fiber warp strands, upright moldings attached to the ends of the screen for vertical support thereof, the filler strands of the fabric structure being also vertically disposed and the warp strands being horizontally disposed, certain of the filler strands being of one color and certain of the warp strands being of a second color and the filler and warp strands being so arranged as to produce, upon opposite sides of the screen, a like pattern of blocks characterized by (a) one solid color, (17) a second solid color, a mixture of two colors with the first color predominating, and (d) a mixture of two colors with the second color predominating, the blocks occurring in horizontal and vertical rows throughout the pattern in regular and recurring sequence, and a plurality of dowel pins constituting certain of the filler strands and interwoven into the fabric structure for vertical sup- 4 port of the flexible screen intermediately of its ends, the dowel pins separating the vertical rows of blocks and extending centrally through the woven fabric and exhibiting a like appearance on opposite sides of the screen.

3. In a stand-up horizontally flexible screen, a fabric structure made up of interwoven fiber filler strands and fiber warp strands, upright moldings attached to the ends of the screen for vertical support thereof, the filler strands of the fabric structure being also vertically disposed and the warp strands being horizontally disposed, and a plurality of evenly spaced dowel pins whose diameters are greater than the thickness of the fiber'strands and also of that of the completed fabric structure and produce a vertical bluging of the screen at opposite sides thereof, the dowel pins being interwoven into the fabric structure to constitute certain of the filler strands therefor and engaged at opposite sides of the screen by vertically spaced groups of contiguous warp strands and protruding and exposed at opposite sides of the screen at the spaces between the groups of warp strands, the warp strands extending across the opposite sides of the dowel pins at the bulging portions of the screen bowing outwardly and symmetrically at such points of crossing and engaging the dowel pins relatively loosely to preserve to the fabric structure substantially full freedom of flexing movement either way into and out of a single plane, the upright moldings at the ends of the screen and the dowel pins rendering the fabric structure self-sustaining in an upright position with its lower edge resting upon a horizontal supporting surface and the strands of the fabric structure forming smooth, uninterrupted upper and lower edges throughout the entire horizontal dimension of the screen, certain of the filler strandsbeing of one color and certain of the warp strands being of a second color and the filler and warp strands being so arranged as to produce upon opposite sides of the screen a like pattern of blocks characterized by (a) one solid color, (b) a second solid color, (0) a mixture of two colors with the first color predominating, and (d) a mixture of two colors with the second color predominating, the blocks occurring in horizontal and vertical rows throughout the pattern in regular and recurring sequence, and the dowel pins being arranged to separate the vertical rows of blocks and exhibiting a like appearance on opposite sides of the screen.

STANLEY E. WAITE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,983,617 Ladon Dec. 11, 19st 2,168,696 Beck Aug. 8, 1939 2,324,398 Kahr July 13, 1943 2,525,683 Keely Oct. 10, 1950 

